Bookmark



Feb. 3, 1942.

H. G. SHAUGHNESSY BOOKMARK Filed Feb. 17, 1941 i at?! 2 Harry GShazghnessy {T6 Mum Patented Feb. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

2,271,807 l BOOKMARK Harry G. Shaughnessy, Detroit, Mich. ApplicationFebruary 17, 1941, Serial No. 379,239

8 Claims.

This invention relates to bookmarks and particularly bookmarks suited tohold theexposed pages of an open book or magazine substantially flat andin position to be read, as well as for marking a place when the book isclosed.

An object of the invention is to form a book-- These and various otherobjects are attained by the construction hereinafter described and il--lustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is av front elevational view of the improved bookmark.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a book, showing the bookmark in use.

As illustrated, my bookmark is formed of a single length of Wire orother suitable material, preferably about fourteen gauge, formed with aU-bend l, with spaced approximately parallel portions 2 extending fromsuch bend divergently thereto, approximating an. inch in length, andwith a long arm 3 and a short arm 4 extending from the portions 2. Thearm 3 preferably approximates seven inches in length and the short armtwo and one-half, said arms being acutely divergent, as for example atforty-five degrees. The plane of the U-bend is preferably approximatelyparallel to the arm 3, and the planes established by the arms 3 and 4,each in conjunction with the adjoining portion 2, are graduallyconvergent so as to locate the free end of the arm 4 substantially inthe plane established by the arm 3 and its adjoined portion 2. It ispreferred to bend the free end portion 5 of the arm 4 toward the arm 3and to somewhat flatten said portion in the plane of the two arms. It isfurther preferred to flatten the lower portion 6 of the arm 3 and toprovide fairly sharp edges on such portion, so that it may serve as acutting blade. The plane of the blade 6 coincides with that of the arm 3and adjoined portion 2.

In use, the described bookmark is clipped over a number of adjoiningpages of a book or magazine, so that their upper margins lie within theU-bend I, the arm 3 projecting downwardly along the page to be marked,as shown in dash lines in Fig. 3. Said arm is left in such position, formerely marking a page or place for future reference, but for holding thepages of a book in flat position for reading, the arm 3 is swungtransversely of said pages to extend across their juncture, as shown infull lines in Fig. 3. Thus the book, if suitably supported, may beeasily read without necessity of holding it. This is particularlydesirable when a person is writing or otherwise using his hands whileoccasionally consulting a book. The acute divergency of the arms 2 and 3has several important advantages, a primary one being the consequentfacility with which a number of adjoining pages of a book may bestraddled by said arms. Other advantages accrue particularly when thedevice is used to hold a book fully open, as per full line showing ofFigure 3. In so using the device, the pages across which free endportion of arm 3 is extended sometimes exert a considerable upthrust,tending to swing the device downward toward a position clearing theright-hand exposed page. This tendency is especially strong if the longarm is not initially transverse to the exposed pages, and it is to benoted that average reader will not trouble to so dispose the device.Divergency of the arms 2 and 3 affords the shorter one a leverage toresist tendency of the device to rotate more or less about itslongitudinal axis, this being desirable as any such rotation wouldpromote swinging of the device to clear the right-hand page.

Acute divergency of the arms further permits short arm to extend, atleast at its free end portion, into plane of the long arm, when neitherarm is under stress. Thus the arms can exert a stronger gripping effecton interposed pages of a book, than would be true if they wereoriginally merely parallel.

Acute divergency of the arms makes possible the very useful bent endportion 5 of short arm projecting toward the long one. This addsmaterial frictional resistance to shifting of device from its intendedposition, and also stiffens short arm to render more effective itsresistance to rotation of device about the long arm as an axis. Whenupthrust exerted by right-hand pages on free end portion of long arm isexceptionally strong, portion 5 may be disposed against binding so as toimpose frictional resistance thereon as well as on the pages.

Convergency of the planes determined respectively by the arms 3 and 4,each in conjunction with its adjoined portion 2, serves to impose astress on the shorter arm when the device is in use, since said armsmust be sprung away from the longer arm in order to clip the device on agroup of pages as has been described. Thi

assures that the longer arm will firmly retain either of its selectivepositions. A firm support for the device is particularly necessary, whenserving to hold a book in reading position, as sometimes the bindingsets up a considerable force tending to turn the pages. The yoke portionof the U-bend swings clear of the adjacent edges of the book when thearm 3 is being shifted from one to the other of its selective positions,and hence avoids marring said edges or their interference with theswinging movement. This advantage results from fact that the U-bend isupwardly diverged with respect to the portions 2.

In using the device as a cutter to separate the pages of a book or as anenvelope opener, the arm 3 and adjacent portion of the arm 4 jointlyform a handle for the device. The blade 6 and flattened portion increasethe surface of frictional contact of the arms with the engaged pages andthus increase its resistance to any accidental shifting from itsintended engagement with said pages.

A bookmark, as described, may be quite inexpensively produced owing tolow cost of material employed and simplicity of requisite manufacturingoperations.

What I claim is:

1. A bookmark comprising a length of resilient material formed betweenits ends with a substantially U-shaped bend and therebyportion of theshorter arm being bent substantially toward the longer arm and flattenedsubstantially in the plane determined by the two arms.

4. A book mark as set forth in claim 1, a portion of said materialadjacent to the U-bend, being bent at an obtuse angle to the long armand in a direction substantially opposed to the short arm.

5. A book mark as set forth in claim 1, having a portion thereofadjacent to said U-bend and bent at an opposed angle to the long arm andin a direction substantially opposed to the short arm, said portionbeing further bent in close proximity to the U-bend to extend the planeof such bend substantially parallel to the long arm.

6. A book mark as set forth in claim 1, said resilient material beingwire and the free end portion of the long arm being flattenedsubstantially in a plane common to both arms.

'7. A book mark comprising a length of resilient material formed with areturn bend between its ends and thereby forming a long and a short arm,a portion of both arms adjoining and including the return bend beingbent to extend at an acute angle to the long arm, the planes determinedby the two arms in conjunction with the adjoining portions adjacent tothe U-bend, being gradually convergent.

8. A combined bookmark and cutter comprising a length of resilient wireformed between its ends with a substantially U-shaped bend and therebyforming arms of unequal length for straddling adjoined pages of a bookor the like, the free end portion of the longer arm being flattened toform a cutting blade substantially transverse to the plane of said bend,and the two arms jointly providing a handle for the construction, whenused for cutting.

' HARRY G. SHAUGHNESSY.

